S3 EP 42 | Season 3 Episode 42: Honoring Our Brains: Iris Wong on Executive Function, Neurodivergence, and Growth

What does it mean to honor your brain, your body, and your story while raising a family and supporting others? For Iris Wong, it means blending her work as a bilingual SLP, executive function coach, and author with the lived experience of being a neurodivergent adult and parent.

On this episode of Making the Grade, Georgia sits down with Iris Wong, a bilingual Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Executive Function Coach, author, and storyteller. Iris’s journey has taken her from public schools in the U.S. to expat life overseas, and now into the deeply personal work of supporting others while honoring her own neurodivergence (AuDHD).

Iris shares how rollerblading and breakdancing in her kitchen as a child gave her an early way to meet her sensory needs - and how that thread of self-understanding now runs through everything she teaches and creates. From publishing A Kids Book About Executive Functioning to exploring representation in YA fiction, Iris brings heart, humor, and lived experience to the conversation about accessibility, identity, and growth.

Together, they talk about:

The realities of being a caregiver while navigating her own late diagnosis
What working overseas taught her about alternative education and inclusion
How storytelling - both in children’s nonfiction and YA fiction - can shift representation and belonging
The connection between sensory needs, creativity, and executive function
Why executive function is not just about productivity, but about honoring our brains and bodies

💡 Iris also shares practical insights from her coaching practice, and why embracing neurodivergence in both kids and adults can unlock new ways of thriving.

🔗 Learn more about Iris’s work:

A Kids Book About Executive Functioning: Penguin Random House link
Instagram: @eftoolkit

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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